Problem I have found with the older electric can openers is that the rim on some of the pull top cans is too deep for them to cut the lid. I reverted to manual can openers. One is deep enough the other one is not. One thing that I sometimes do is bend the pull tab as far forward as it goes while exerting a slight downward pressure after the pull tab reaches 90 degrees. It normally will press the area in front of the pull tab down into the can. I have some really old very stiff table knives that I can then put into the opening angling it diagonally across the top.. I then start exerting upward pressure which so far has allowed me to open the cans if I can not pull the lid off. I think just breaking the seal allows them to be opened easier.

I can still open them but I have one of these for the ones that are difficult and it works great. i got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond but you could probably find one online or at Amazon. I like the companies jar popper that breaks the vacuum seal on jars also.

I am right there with you. Cannot open Progresso. I have popped the tab off twice. Forgot what I was opening about a month ago, the tab broke and there was no way to use a can open on the shape and we tossed , food and can. I do have arthritis in these old hands, in my case , it may be old age.

I cannot. My fingernails are as thin and weak as paper. I use a letter opener to "start" all the poptops in my cupboard.

I don't have Progresso but I've run into a problem with some pull top cans lately - have had to hand them to DH and hope he didn't spill them everywhere pulling the top off ;0) (have done that myself) I've slipped a steak knife in the ring to get a little leverage and lift.

I see Walmart has the Brix J Popper at half Amazon's price. $4.50 ea. I just ordered three, delivered. One for me and a couple to share. I haven't been inside Walmart since about February ;0) Any time I've driven passed the parking lot has been completely full, a larger crowd than I'm comfortable with these days.

I haven't tried a Progresso can in a while, but opened a tab top Campbell's soup an yesterday.

I cannot. My fingernails are as thin and weak as paper. I use a letter opener to "start" all the poptops in my cupboard.

I never use my fingernails to open any pop-top cans. I use the side of my thumb. If I had trouble I'd use a butter knife to lift it up enough to use my fingers.

I have a problem with different tab cans. Some I can do, some I can't.

I've never seen pop tab lids on soups etc until very recently. I don't like them at all. They're popular on pet food and I have no problem opening them.

But they're on my cans of San Marzano tomatoes that I recently bought at Costco. To me they don't do anything, except make a mess.

Thank you wildchild for that Brix product recommendation. I have Brix jar openers, both plastic and metal. They work for both commercially jarred products and home canned jars.

Besides the pop-top cans, I have trouble opening my half-n-half which uses a plastic ring that you have to pull open. In my case, a condition called delayed pressure urticaria interferes with my opening these things. I can open them as intended, but if I do, I will have swelling and deep urticaria that takes steroids and weeks or months to heal.

I can, but I'm always afraid I will jerk it wrong and it will slop soup all over. I

also have those "plastic rings" that matthias_lang mentioned on my orange

juice. Sometimes they are really hard to get out, too.

Several times I've had a tab start breaking off without opening the can. Usually I can push down on the right area to start the seam tearing enough that I can use the tab to finish. Other times I grab a tool.

The opener posted above looks useful.

Be cautious with those openers to not use them at an angle. They will break and those edges are sharp along with the flying food.

I recently bought tuna with pop top lids from Costco and the tabs break off without opening the cans. So frustrating.

This is why I have a pair of pliers in my kitchen. Usually no problem with cans, but watch out with peanut butter and mayonaise jars. They have that piece of paper/cardboard that I cannot grip and pull open, thus the pliers.

I use the pop top opener helper. Most of the time that works. I then resort to a can opener. When the can opener does not fit I go old-fashioned and take a sharp knife and saw my way carefully around the lid. I just pretend I'm camping and I'm very careful.

On most of them I can't.. Occasionally I find one I can. I have used a spoon and my husband usually has good luck opening them.

I have and use the popper tool to open jars. I need to get the tool pictured.

To open glass jars, I use the pointed end of a can puncturer/bottle opener. I put the point under the lid and lift just enough to break the seal. I wonder if this will work to lift up the tab.

I haven't seen them.

If the tab has a hole in it, how about pushing a screwdriver through the hole, then pulling up?

If the tab pulls off, how about using a screwdriver with a single wide blade, holding it on the break line and hitting the top of the handle with the palm of your hand, positioning the driver side by side in a line along the split a few times? Or a table knife, not a sharp knife, or you'll dull it. Or a spoon?

If you've had several experiences of the tab breaking off, how about taking one (or two, if available - including one with contents on the way to spoilage) along with a sealable container(s) large enough to accomodate the can(s), to customer service at the store where you bought it/them. Ask the service person to open it for you, and if they don't want to, or can't, ask politely for the manager.

It's important that the people up that supply chain hear from the consumers (who in this case find the contents of an unopenable tin can rather hard to digest, not being able to get it through one's mouth and down one's throat).

You should get the can(s) replaced, maybe even get to keep the one you brought, if they can open it or show you how to get it ready to accomplish the task for which it was intended, prior to its having given you so much frustration to dine on!

You could suggest to the store people that if the canner's planners can't find a way to do a better job ... maybe they should be canned!

ole joyful

For reluctant canning jar lids, tie a loop into the end of a heavy string e.g. shoelace, or thin rope, wrap it once or, probably preferably, twice, around the lid holding screw, stick a long rod, e.g. a screwdriver, through the loop pull the string tight around the lid of the jar, then wrap the loose end of the string around the rod, pull it tight and hold it while pulling the rod in the direction needed to loosen the screw-on lid holder.

ole joyful

I don't know about Progresso, but I open pull top cans all the time for Izzi's dog food.

Sue

This Kuhn Rikon can opener will open pop top cans without a problem.

Wow! The KT to the rescue again! Thanks for the opener-assistant, wildchild.

Today I sent my Progresso can complaint to General Mills. I'm sure *something* has changed with their product. I could open their cans until just the past two months, and on the rare occasion I couldn't, DH could. The *concept* is fine, but the consumer should be able to use it without having to buy a special tool.

I mentioned this on a Facebook group. We don't have a lot of pull-tab food products, as I mentioned. But it won't surprise me if soup starts coming with them. I do have San Marzano tomatoes with the pull tabs.

Anyway, others have said they don't even bother with the tabs......they break off easily. The turn them upside down and use the can opener. That's what I'll be doing in the future.

How do they open the cans when they do not have a rim at the bottom. Most of the ones that I looked at last night appeared to be molded and did not have a rim that a can opener would fit on. I just looked at a can of Progresso and it has a wide molded rim on the bottom. Granted it is a rim but it is about twice the thickness of a regular rim if not larger. Trying to open the top with a can opener makes sense but not easily done on the bottom of molded cans.

Well ... if you can't open the can ...

... it should take a long time till the contents of that molded can may go mouldy!

ole joyful

Maifleur, you're right. Some mentioned turning them over, but others have said they ignore the pull tab completely and reach right for the can opener.

I haven't had a problem opening but I don't like the pull tab cans. I always give the tuna can to my dog to clean out but can't give him the pull tab cans because of the sharp edge. That same sharp edge chews up my rubber spatulas and causes bits of rice, etc. to hang up when you empty the soup cans.

I have a hard time opening them especially the lids on tuna fish. I think I am going to cut myself as I pull it off. I try not to buy anything with pull off lids.

The Kuhn Rikon can opener does not leave any sharp edges after opening a can. Pull tab or no pull tab.

The Kuhn website has 40% off cookware and 25% off knives and gadgets right now and free shipping on orders over $30. I ordered a can opener, watermelon knife, and a couple jar openers from them a couple days ago for Christmas gifts.

the Brix J Poppers I ordered came and I used one on the pop-top can lid to Costco green beans in light sea salt tonight. It worked beautifully! I'll add the others to stocking gifts, can't imagine needing more than one.

(and those green beans are good if one likes canned green beans. We do. These are most like what I can for us years that I can beans. Which wasn't this year. Quality beans and not too salty)